Let’s GET REAL.

Ok, so I’m going to get personal on you today. {You are going to be nice, right!?!?} I’m not going to lie, this is HARD FOR ME. My goal this year is to be more OPEN about what’s going on in my head. I need to GET REAL here on All Things Thrifty, and I’ve decided that I need to be able to vent sometimes. I know that may sound simple, but because of my personality, it is hard for me to do this {here} in the public eye.

So, prepare yourself for some venting. I tend to over analyze things, and I worry that by sharing {personal} struggles, you might think I’m a weirdo or something. So, try and go easy on me since I’m not a strong person {in this area}.

I have ALWAYS had to worry about my weight. It is a constant roller coaster. It goes up and occasionally it goes down, but mostly it just seems to keep climbing higher and higher. A few years ago, I got the motivation bug and lost 50 pounds. It felt good and I was quite proud. Then I got pregnant again.

I could give you a million excuses including genetics, having babies, and a really bad car accident {even a compound fracture ankle injury}, but I won’t. I know that my weight is completely MY FAULT. My appetite is large and my physical activity isn’t where it needs to be, so as a result, so is my toosh. It seems quite simple.

One of my biggest downfalls about myself is being self conscious. I am really hard on myself, and I’m especially hard on myself about my body. I get emotional about it. I know that there is nobody in the world that can lose the weight for me. Whenever I have a baby, I gain weight. I gain a LOT of weight. I’m not going to put a number on the weight I gained during Creed’s pregnancy because quite frankly, I can’t even say it out loud. I know that me and food are kind of enemies. I let my guard down for a week and I gain five pounds. That is no lie. I can eat and eat and eat. I don’t really have a “stop” button.

I had been losing weight on weight watchers before the holidays and I had done pretty darn good. I had lost about 20 pounds!! YAY ME!…Then the holidays come and I wasn’t careful {because it’s the holidays} ya know!?!? Well, I gained a lot.

So ever since the holidays have been over, I have been trying REALLY hard to lose weight again. Overall I have lost 25 pounds so far, and I’m really proud of myself. BUT, I have a long way to go. I know that to be at a healthy weight for my strapping 5’5” frame I need to lose a lot more weight.

So, I did something DRASTIC. I joined a community “BIG LOSER” competition {a spin off of biggest loser} here in St. George, Utah. I will be participating in a weekly challenge on my 10 participant team {7 of which are my good friends}. I am going to be working my butt off {literally} for the next 10 weeks! Try and be patient as I add {just one more thing} to my plate.

I decided that I should share what I am going through personally so that maybe you {might} get a glimpse into the mind of Brooke from All Things Thrifty for a minute. So, tell me, is this something that you would like me to blog about? {My weight loss journey?} The competition starts tonight!

Just to be clear, you won’t be getting any before pictures of this girl. But, you can imagine quite accurately if you watch the real “Biggest Loser.” 🙂 Ha ha.

When Jillian was still on biggest loser, I was a regular (obsessed), but Anyhoo, I would love to hear about your journey. I think support from your readers could serve as motivation for the good days and not-so-good days. You have my vote, blog away. Very brave of you. Good luck.

I don't think you'll find any American woman who doesn't struggle with the same issues. I have just met my Weight Watchers goal and lifetime! Hooray! But I'm in 'maintain' phase and really its not too much different from 'lose' phase.

The thing is, once we reach a weight 'goal' the game is not over. This is life, its a journey, not a destination.

I think it is great that you can share that with us- we all have something that we are working on. I have been down that weight loss journey and would be happy to do the "happy" dance with you when the scale goes down, the inches lost get bigger and so do those clothes. I think it is great you are taking time to take care of yourself- you won't believe how good you feel and how it will start showing in everything you do. You go girl!!!!

I think it's a great idea to blog about it. I've also joined a competition, and am not sure if I'll win, but I sure am proud of the baby steps I've made toward my weight loss goals. I'm behind you! You can do it!

way to go Brooke! i would love to catch some of your motivation — you should totally blog about this! after i quit dancing, on came the weight and the desire to exercise went out the window, so i'm in the same boat and i would love to hear what you find is working/getting you going. good luck!

I would love to read about it! It's what I love to blog about as well…Health/Fitness and some crafty stuff too! I have 4 children and gained 65- 70 pounds with each. I have worked my butt off to get to where I am now!! You can so do it! I'm just down the street from you in Mesquite, NV 🙂 I wish our community did some sort of contest like that. How cool!! Anyway, you can check out my blog and fitness story if you'd like, I'm so close to my ultimate goal! I can't wait to see you reach yours! You got this…really, you can!

Hey good luck on your journey to a healthier body! You can do it! It's 99.9% mental so you need to find what works for you. Lately what I've been doing for inspiration is going on Pinterest and looking at before and after pics under the fitness category. It's amazing to see so many people lose weight, it's really inspiring!

I think I can agree with everyone else and say, I would love to hear about your weight loss journey! Good luck with it. I struggled with weight for a long time and miraculously finally got to where I wanted to be and finally feel comfortable in my body and good about myself. I've found that in order to maintain my weight, it has to be a life style change. Not a change for 6 months, not a "diet", but a way of life. I also work out regularly and that definitely helps to maintain my weight, even with having had two children. Once I go to where I wanted to be, I decided I was NOT going back to my old weight. That has been my motivation to eat right and keep myself in check. Good luck, I know you CAN do it! 🙂

Brooke, You are so wonderful!I have a girlfriend just like you. She struggles with weight gain partly for medical reasons and partly because she is an awesome cook (OMG, she is an executive chef in my eyes). I love that you are sharing your new goal with us and I wish you the best.

My husband and I had an eye-opening conversation about physical fitness and fiscal fitness. I was extremely frugal (THRIFTY, even) but overweight, and he was extremely fit (SMOKIN' HOT, even) but had a mountain of debt. We have worked really hard over the last five years to be more balanced. I've lost 60 lbs and he's paid off $26,000 in debt. It helps me to think of calories as dollars. You wouldn't "spend" more money than you had to – why eat more than you have to? (Don't listen to the voice that screams, "Because it's tasty!!!") You want to maximize your "earned" calories by exercising. Etc. Etc.

I have a sign on my fridge that has worked for 8 months, and helped me lose 40 lbs without exercising (have extreme arthritis). It says simply: Do not eat to soothe or reward yourself, you are NOT a dog. Works for me, but I am an emotional eater 🙂

I'm so glad you are going to be more OPEN, and that you're rededicating yourself to your SELF! You are worth it. As someone who shares your struggles, I get it. And here's one little word of advice: Exercise is great for your body's systems – they run more efficiently, and they get strong, but the only thing that's really going to help you lose weight is changing your eating habits. I recommend protein shakes. It's amazing how having a protein shake will keep me full between meals. It takes a lot for the body to metabolize protein, and while it's busy with that, it doesn't have the time or the inclination to hunt down cookies or candy (bad carbs are my worst downfall, and on any ordinary non-protein day – oatmeal for breakfast, for example – I would be on the hunt for something else within a couple of hours. One protein shake will hold me for at least three and a half). Then, once you've lost the weight, the exercise habit you've developed will help you to keep it off. Change of eating habits = weight loss. Exercise = weight maintenance. Best of luck! Many hugs!

i've been following your blog for a couple years, but i never ever comment. i hate it that people do that on my blog, but then i realize i do it to the bloggers that i follow. SHAME ON ME!

your post about weight really hits home for me. i haven't always struggled with my weight. i was always the skinny girl with a fast metabolism that could eat anything. i always wondered why it was so hard for others to lose weight, and thought to myself "why don't they just decide they want to lose weight MORE than they want to eat that donut?" then i gave birth to twins, and have done EVERYTHING to lose weight. i know there are other that are worse off then me, as i'm only about 30 lbs overweight. but i'm so tired of this low self-esteem, and having to wear maternity clothes or my husbands sweatpants.

I would love to hear about your weight loss journey. It will also keep you motivated and we can rag on you if we haven't heard from you in a while. Weight loss is so freakin' hard. I have 6 more weeks before baby #3 gets here and then I am going to start molding my body into what I used to have before babies… you can do it, you have so much talent you can do this.

Go for it! But take a before photo! Even if you don't post it right now, pictures are worth a thousand words. I am blogging about my weight loss journey. Its great because it holds me accountable. I track/blog every calorie, every day. There is a lot I don't eat because I don't want people to know/read about. Come check it out http://www.myjourneytokim.blogspot.com No poking fun of me either. Read about the tips I use to tracking calories and getting the calorie counts for homemade meals. Best of luck! Its a lifetime journey. #1 tip-get a great food scale! Check out which one I got on my blog.

Why not blog about it??? It might be another motivating factor . . . someone else you have to answer to 🙂 And I think you should take a before picture, even if you don't post it on your blog. Then you'll get to see just how far you've come! Great job on the 25 lbs! I have lots of yummy snack ideas if you want any. I'm the smallest I've ever been right now! But it takes a LOT of work. Every day. Don't worry, when I have another baby, I'll be doing it all over again!!!

I get so upset when people beat themselves up over their weight. I too need to lose weight and start exercising, ( I swim). I lost 60 lbs over a year. I did not once during that time weigh myself. As a matter of fact I threw our scale in the trash. I swam 4-5 days a week, 10 laps each time. And….I did not call it a diet. I ate whatever I wanted, but in small portions. (I did pig out on Ben and Jerry's, once in a while, the whole pint!yep)Basically, I ate 1/2 of what I would normally have eaten. No diet drinks, either 1 regular soda a day or ice tea and water. One piece of See's candy. etc. I did try and to eat my main meal at 2-3 in the afternoon. And then salad, cereal or a yogurt and piece of fruit in the evening. I have gained back 30 lbs. I am not kicking myself, I just need to start over, and I have this week.I wish you all the best on your weight lose program with your friends. Remember, exercise is essential. AND, when people, relatives ask you if you've lost weight, tell them, you don't know, you don't have a scale. It is nobodies business but yours. Do Not Be Ashamed Of Yourself! Take it 10 lbs at a time.

You should blog about this. Not only will it help you by having your followers motivate you, when you can't motivate yourself, it will help motivate your followers as well. I started blogging about my journey at the start of the year and it has been wonderful for me. If you want to read about my journey go to http://splendidfailurecrafts.blogspot.com/ and read about it. I update every wednesday for a weightloss wednesday segment of my blog. Keep up the good work. You are amazing.

I hope you know how beautiful you are!! Honestly, I have looked at your gorgeous self and seen your sparkly personality for the last seven months, and not once have I even thought of changing anything about your cute self. You are one of the most beautiful women I know, inside and out!! I love your guts!!

I am super proud of you Brooke! Not only is sharing something so personal hard, but you have a HUGE audience. You are truly amazing at everything! You are powerful, beautiful, creative, and you can DO ANYTHING!!! Love you Lady!

Finding the time to exercise and eat right is SO HARD with kids! And baby weight is a killer! I'm so glad you're going to do this–for yourself. Keep us posted and good luck! I have a friend who did the same competition in St. George and he got awesome results!!

Thanks so much for sharing…I am in the same boat as you, except I can't seem to find the motivation to get going on the weight loss thing again! So I'd love to hear inspiration and follow you on your journey…maybe it will inspire me!

Congrats on your weight loss so far…it's hard to do. And it's cool that you're talking about it…for one thing, it sort of makes you more "accountable" when you have an audience following your progress, and for another, you'll inspire others to do the same.

Honestly, I would love to hear about your journey with this new project! Many of us struggle with weight and body image in our own ways and I find it helpful and motivating to hear about others going through a similar experience. I actually just joined Live Healthy Iowa with a team from my work! I totally slacked the first week, but yesterday I just decided to START OVER and get off my butt!

Hi Brooke, I want to encourage you to go for it…. but remember more than anything…. your husband (i'm sure) loves you and your body. It was that amazing body that delivered your beautiful children into the world. But more importantly, God loves you. He created you and called you very good. So do your best loose some weight, but DO NOT loose sight of what is important. God Bless you, He has so much already. Donna

I'll bet when you get to where you want to be, you'll be so proud that you'll throw that before picture up! I just started exercising about 4 days ago…I took before photos, and as of now I can't imagine posting them.

I have lost over 30 pounds in the past 3 months by counting calories,no desserts or candy(sob) and walking for 1/2 hour daily.I love the book " The Abs Diet" it is what kickstarted my diet…there isn't any cravings,I stopped obsessing about food after a week and now it's to the point I have to remind myself to eat lol..Try it and good luck

I have lost over 30 pounds in the past 3 months by counting calories,no desserts or candy(sob) and walking for 1/2 hour daily.I love the book " The Abs Diet" it is what kickstarted my diet…there isn't any cravings,I stopped obsessing about food after a week and now it's to the point I have to remind myself to eat lol..Try it and good luck

I have lost over 30 pounds in the past 3 months by counting calories,no desserts or candy(sob) and walking for 1/2 hour daily.I love the book " The Abs Diet" it is what kickstarted my diet…there isn't any cravings,I stopped obsessing about food after a week and now it's to the point I have to remind myself to eat lol..Try it and good luck

I think you should DEFINITELY take a before picture – but don't post it on the internet unless you feel secure enough to do that. Have that before picture will give you an image of where you came from. When you reach your goal weight then take an after picture.

Keep them close (maybe underwear drawer) in case your weight starts going up again. The picture will be incentive enough for you to keep those pounds off and the after picture will get you to keep a healthy level of diet and exercise.

I think you are beautiful! I always feel kind of frumpy next to you, always put together with a little bit of fun funky style. Good for you and your goals, but just know I've always admired your look:)

So proud of you girl. Seriously, it took some serious courage to push the publish button and I couldn't be more proud of you. And of course I want to hear about your journey. My story is the same I am the ultimate yo yo myself. I hate that about myself.

In my weight-loss journey, I've found that the online food logs helped a lot in keeping track of my calorie intake and burning. It was a real eye-opener to see where my extra weight really came from.I find that my "binges" start because I didn't eat properly earlier in the day (or even the day before), and aren't merely because I lack will-power. Don't beat yourself up over a "failure". Focus on enjoying a small indulgence each day, and remembering that indulgence when you feel like going for a second (while still limiting yourself to just that one indulgence.)You CAN DO IT!

I would love to hear about your weight loss journey! I've lost 50 pounds (four sizes) since last February through Weight Watchers, Jillian Micheals exercise videos and running. I find others' stories to be very motivational. I encourage you to take a before photo just for you – to encourage you along your journey and to motivate you to stay at goal once you reach it. Just remember there will be blips along the way – sometimes you'll go up a little on the scale, but if you stick with it you will continue to trend down. Look at the big picture, and know you CAN do it. I'm proud of you for starting this journey!

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